News That Matters has climbed from 26,125th place in the blog world to 26,044th though inching is more like it I guess. But considering we’re not even trying we’ll be in the top one-hundred in 27 years, 6 months and 21 days.

In light of the Huffington Post being purchased by AOL for $315 million, News That Matters is also for sale for the the bargain-basement price of $180,000, fully negotiable.

Before some right-wing CEO from Garrison snaps us up and the weekend Things To Do editions become lists of regional prayer breakfasts featuring Sarah Palin or Dick Cheney as their keynote speakers, if your organization is having an event that is actually of interest please send it to us ASAP in plain text format. Save the PDF and JPG files for your general email lists.

One in Carmel at 7PM, where the Putnam County Legislature will most likely vote to request that the State allow Putnam County to continue our 1% sales tax extension for another year.

They will use every excuse in the book why it’s essential: They’ll blame “unfunded mandates” as if those programs would be paid for by someone else if Albany handled them. They’ll cry and beg and moan and be all haughty but in the end they could cut the county budget and odds are they don’t have the cajones to do it in any meaningful way.

Here’s what we need to hear County Executive Eldridge and Legislative Chair Tamagna say: “The county has a plan to cut government spending by $11 million this year, by an additional $15 million next year and by $18 million the year after thus negating the need for the sales tax extension.”

(And a ban on any new senior housing developments would certainly help keep the budgets in line.)

Watch for a huge contingent of flag-waving Tea Baggers to come out to fight against the extension. Okay, they’re essentially dead in the area. Maybe just former county Legislator Maryellen Odell will speak against it?

The second meeting is taking place in Garrison at the Desmond Fish library from 7PM – 9PM. State Assemblywoman Sandra Galef has invited Assemblyman Kevin Cahill to discuss his bill A447 which would shift the burden of school funding from property taxes to income taxes. Joining Mr. Cahill will be Frank Mauro from the Public Policy Institute, Edmund J. McMahon, the director of the Empire Center for New York State Policy and Martin Reid, Deputy Director of Government Relations from the NY School Boards Association. At the Desmond Fish Library, 472 Route 403 (at the intersection of Route 9D). Call 914 941-1111 for more information.

(Un)Friendly Neighbor of the Month:

From the January 30, 2011 edition of the New Yorker Magazine, “Fox Among the Chickens” by Peter J. Boyer

Roger Ailes, for his part, had grown impatient with the charge that he and his wide were trying to impose a Fox News sovereignty upon an enlightened and un-willing Hudson Highlands. “There have been days when I’ve been tempted to just take a couple of Fox News trucks and park ‘em on the street, so they could assume we were up there doing something,” Ailes says. “We have very studiously avoided bringing Fox News into the community. Now they act like it’s come in, because we moved there. But if they continue to push me, why, we might have to introduce it someday and just scare the hell out of them”

While we have received testimonials and responses from around the world about how Power Balance™ has helped people, there is no assurance it can work for everyone. That’s why we offer a no-questions-asked, money-back guarantee. If you’re not satisfied, just return the product within 30 days with proof of purchase.

But that wasn’t good enough for Brian Casserly of Greenwood Lake in Orange County who is suing the company. His lawyer claims that it’s “biologically impossible for two holograms to affect your strength or performance”.

Well, duh!

But wearing one, (and getting caught with your $29.95 pants-down), does enhance your ability to participate in the Classic American sport of trying to get rich by suing to cover your embarrassment. But here’s the problem: for all this time no one in the world knew Mr. Casserly even existed. Now we all know he’s a gullible sap.

Columbia University MFA thesis filmmaker seeks 1-4 bedroom modest suburban house in which to shoot a short film. Seeking a standalone house, with yard and garage. We have full liability insurance, are very professional, and always take great care of the places we shoot.

The film is about a lonely and bored man who thinks his dog, Maximo, can talk. He enlists the help of his coworker, Cynthia, to help him uncover Maximo’s secret. It is a offbeat romantic comedy.

The filmmaker, Jed Cowley, has produced, directed, and edited various short films, including The Loss of a Wrestling Match, which was an official selection at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Shooting will take place Feb 21-25, with a couple days prep. Ideally, the house would be empty for those days, whether you’re away on vacation or have somewhere else to stay. Some scenes take place at night, and we might have to shoot until late. Shoot days will be 12-14 hour days.

We can guarantee that your home will be treated with care and respect by our small crew. And of course we’d provide credit in the film, and DVD copies when it’s finished. This is a great way to make money while you’re out of town, and help some students with a fun and exciting project.

We are willing to pay a usage fee. Please email (jedcowley at gmail dot com) with photos, location, and questions. We’d be happy to tell you more about the project and logistics.

• From the Field: Bill Buck in Cape Horn
• West Point Foundry Preserve Plans Move Ahead
• EPA Stormwater Rulemaking: Submit Your Case Studies
• Automation Domination: Robotic Hydroponic Lettuce Farm in Belgium
• State Reform panel yet to gather
• Bard College Named Nation’s No. 1 Dinner Party School
• What Can The US Do In Egypt?

This article was first posted at Plant Talk by Plant Talk.

January 29, 2011; Isla Aguirre, Seno Quo Vadis, 54°34’S, 71°59’W

Our two days in Punta Arenas seemed to drag on after such a great first part of our expedition. However, it did mean we were able to pick up Matt and buy a few things to tweak the moss dryers. On the morning of January 28 we returned to the port to board our trusty ship. Going out onto the dock, the ship, which was sandwiched between a large naval vessel and a massive cruise ship, looked even smaller. A number of the passengers disembarking from the cruise ship stopped and asked what we were doing. As soon as I hear an American accent I tell them “Your tax dollars at work!” and briefly explain the project. I think it is important for them to know that their taxes pay for something more than war.

Shortly after we untied from the dock and headed south, once again motoring through the Straits of Magellan, a pod of at least ten dolphins joined our ship. They criss-crossed in front of our ship for over an hour, seemingly doomed to a collision which never came. The same time the sea was remarkably calm; even in canals where we had previously encountered violent water, the ship hardly rocked. The captain chose to take an inland passage rather than the more commonly used Cockburn Canal. We seemed, time and again, to enter into a dead end sound, only at the last minute to watch it turn into a previously invisible sound. A short time later the passage we had just come from had similarly disappeared. Going down these narrow waterways, as opposed to wide canals, gave us a better view of the incredible forests that march up the shores. Although continuously overcast, the evening light was almost luminescent and navigating through a veritable maze of islands was a special experience. Once again I delighted in Matt’s reaction to the astounding landscapes, as I had with the others in our group the previous week.

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West Point Foundry Preserve Plans Move Ahead

By Kevin Foley

Land conservation and historic preservation organization Scenic Hudson’s plans for the group’s 87-acre West Point Foundry Preserve property inched forward at the Cold Spring Planning Board workshop last Tuesday, Jan. 25. The nearly three-hour session was spent parsing over some of the multitude of details comprising the ambitious $3.6 million proposal to create an educational and recreational historic heritage site intended to draw visitors from up and down the Hudson Valley  - – and beyond.

As reported last summer, the preserve is now linked to nearby properties under the umbrella of the West Point Foundry Archaeological Site and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as having national significance. The other properties are, Foundry Dock Park, the Kemble estate (both owned by Scenic Hudson), the Chapel of Our Lady Restoration, and the Putnam County Historical Society and Foundry School Museum. Scenic Hudson’s plans include the construction of a sculptural water wheel to demonstrate power generation at the original Civil War foundry where armaments were manufactured, and a replica of a former lookout tower for testing the famous Parrott Gun artillery piece. Other amenities will include landscaped walking trails and roads, educational programs, picnic areas, as well as enhanced cultivation of the natural areas.

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has initiated a national rulemaking process to establish a new program to reduce stormwater discharges from new development and as well as redevelopment. During this process, the EPA is expected to evaluate green infrastructure design techniques that mimic natural water processes, including approaches that infiltrate and recharge, evapotranspire, and harvest and reuse precipitation. Landscape architects are currently working with many communities to employ green infrastructure design techniques that address stormwater management and other water quality issues. To show the EPA how green infrastructure works, submit case studies about successful stormwater management projects. Demonstrate to the EPA that green infrastructure is a highly-effective and cost-efficient approach to improving the quality of the water supply.

Specifically, EPA’s new rulemaking process seeks to establish requirements to control stormwater discharges from new development and redevelopment; develop a single set of consistent stormwater requirements for all Municipal Separate Sanitary Sewer Systems (MS4s); require MS4s to address stormwater discharges in areas of existing development through retrofitting the sewer system or drainage area with improved stormwater control measures; and explore specific stormwater provisions to protect sensitive areas.

In 2006, EPA requested the National Research Council (NRC) to conduct a review of its stormwater program. In October 2008, NRC released its report Urban Stormwater Management in the United States (The National Academies Press, 2009), which found, among other things, that “the rapid conversion of land to urban and suburban areas has profoundly altered how water flows during and following storm events, putting higher volumes of water and more pollutants into the nation’s rivers, lakes, and estuaries. These changes have degraded water quality and habitat in virtually every urban stream system.”  The report recommends a number of actions, including conserving natural areas, reducing hard surface cover (e.g., roads, parking lots, impervious surfaces), and retrofitting urban areas with features that hold and treat stormwater.

Throughout 2010, the EPA held a number of listening sessions across the country to hear views, ideas and input from various stakeholders. The EPA has also issued “Information Collection Requests” and other data collection questionnaires to gather information and assess what revisions are needed to its stormwater requirements. After reviewing and analyzing the data, EPA intends to issue a draft rule in September of 2011 and a final stormwater rule sometime in 2012.

Submit your green infrastructure case studies by March 31, 2011.

Automation Domination: Robotic Hydroponic Lettuce Farm in Belgium

Today we look at an automated hydroponic lettuce farm in Belgium.

The steady march of industrial automation continues to envelop the world. Many of us have a quaint early 20th century vision of agriculture, but the truth is that the farmer of the 21st century is a machine. Case in point: lettuce. With new hydroponic techniques, companies are able to grow lettuce in large indoor fields where crops are sorted, planted, and grown automatically. Robots are instrumental to all steps of the process. Don’t believe me? Check out the video below. It shows the day to day automation for a hydroponic farm in Belgium. Those bots seem to have a pretty green thumb.

While I’m unsure of the exact location of the farm, I can tell that the robotics systems used are from Hortiplan, a horticultural automation company based out of the Netherlands. The hydroponic rows you see being filled and maneuvered are part of their Mobile Gully System. The MGS not only plants the lettuce and arranges it in the field, it also moves the crop along as it develops, and delivers it to the right part of the greenhouse for harvest. That picking is done by hand. You can see some (mediocre) clips of the process on the Hortiplan YouTube channel.

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State Reform panel yet to gather

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo has hit the ground running with plans for budget cuts and the push for an on-time budget. But one of the key components of his plan to revitalize state government, the Spending and Government Efficiency Commission, has yet to hold its first meeting, and not all of its members have been named.

While some lawmakers are agitating to get started, the Cuomo camp says work has already begun in-house. And the delay in naming all 20 members of the SAGE Commission could actually be the result of Cuomo’s strategy.

According to those with knowledge of situation, the governor is reaching out to nationally known business leaders to serve alongside lawmakers on SAGE. By enlisting marquee names — including some Republicans — Cuomo will attempt to armor himself for a fierce pushback by lawmakers, public sector unions and others when he tries to carry out SAGE’s mission, which is to downsize state government by 20 percent.

Cuomo already has a well-known name from the business world, Paul Francis, heading the commission. Francis, who was state budget director under former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, has also served as chief financial officer for Priceline.com and retailer Ann Taylor.

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Bard College Named Nation’s No. 1 Dinner Party School

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, NY—The Princeton Review announced this week that Bard College has topped its annual ranking of the nation’s biggest dinner party schools.

The liberal arts college, which is located in New York’s Hudson Valley and last year placed third on the list, has long been notorious for its active dinner party scene and consistently ranks near the top in such categories as roasting pine nuts with friends while discussing summer internships, and cooking with woks.

“Whether it’s an intimate gathering of friends making vegetarian lasagna or an all-out potluck for studio-art majors, Bard students like to throw dinner parties, and they like to throw dinner parties hard,” an excerpt from the rankings read. “It’s almost impossible to walk the campus of this 2,000-student college on a Friday night and not hear the sound of Yellow Tail Pinot Noir bottles uncorking and Brian Eno’s Here Come The Warm Jets album wafting across the quad.”

“Potential applicants are advised to save some room for homemade vegan snickerdoodles, because this is one dinner party school that is not for lightweights,” the excerpt concluded.

In surveys conducted by the Princeton Review, more than 80 percent of the students at Bard said they attend dinner parties “frequently to quite frequently,” and another 60 percent said they regularly neglect their studies in order to pick up artisanal cheeses at the market in town.

The article quotes students who described the school’s rampant “seven days a week” dinner party culture and the widespread popularity of on-campus herb gardening.

“People go crazy here with the dinner parties,” said freshman Michael Lee, who claimed he knew about the school’s reputation for all-evening-long dinner parties when he applied for admission, but found it even more pervasive than he’d expected. “I’ve been to dinner parties where guys show up with baguettes under both arms and just go for hours talking about Joanna Newsom or whatever. It’s nuts.”

Other students on campus claimed that some dinner parties carry on into brunch the next morning, and in many cases produce leftovers that can “last all weekend.”

Bard administrators said steps in recent years to curb the school’s rampant dinner party culture have met with mixed results.

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What Can The US Do In Egypt?

An Editorial by Jeff Green

Anti-American sentiment is beginning to find a place among pro-Democracy demonstrators in Tahrir Square in Cairo. President Obama is taking his time demanding that Hosni Mubarak resign his office and/or leave the country, taking his stolen $70 billion wealth with him.

But President Obama has recent history staring him down: The last time the United States took the side of pro-Democracy demonstrators was in 1979 when President Carter withdrew support for the Shah of Iran with the result being the rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini and the shit-storm that has caused since. But Kohmeini’s rise had more to do with US reluctance (Carter, Ford, Reagan, Bush I) to face down Mr. Khomeini than anything else. And when pro-Democracy Iranians took to the street by the hundreds of thousands in 2010, the United States remained largely silent while the government of Iran slaughtered thousands of Iranians and quashed the demonstrations with an iron fist. At the same time our allies increased their investment in that country and contracted for additional oil exports thus strengthening the Iranian government.

But Egypt is not Iran and the “dreaded” Muslim Brotherhood is not likely to move toward a theocratic constitution as Egypt, unlike Iran of 1979, depends almost entirely on foreign tourists and hard currency for its survival. Additionally, the demonstrators in Egypt present a cosmopolitan and progressive face that is different than their neighbors, is more western and looks to a future free from theocratic dominance.

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Good Wednesday Morning,

I’ve added two new feeds to the News That Matters website and dropped NY Outdoors. The added feeds are: homegrown.org which concerns itself with local, sustainable agriculture and food recipes (like this incredible recipe for cranberry-cheese bars) and Adirondack Lifestyle which is self explanatory.

NY Outdoors was dropped as they seem to have no original content and of late their feed was naught but advertisements in the guise of ‘news’.

The feeds coming in now are from:
Dissertation to Dirt, a blog about starting up a CSA farm.
FactCheck, which appropriately enough checks political facts.
The Sunlight Foundation,
the Land Use Professionals Blog,
Left of the Hudson and,
Plant Talk, which is from the NY Botanical Gardens.
And the last is ProPublica. Just about the only objective investigative news service out there.

You can find stories from these sources by visiting the website at: http://www.planputnam.org/ntm

There’s some good reading in there!

For those of you who support the locally-based Chuckie Goodnight Foundation for the Environment, their 2011 calendar is out and it’s great! Check out their website by clicking on their link over there in the sidebar.

“Joseph M. Margiotta (c. 1927 – November 28, 2008) was an American political boss who ran the Nassau County, New York Republican Party, considered “one of the most powerful political organizations in New York State”, for 16 years until his 1983 convictions on federal charges.

“Margiotta became chairman of the Nassau Republican Party in 1967, exercising control over political appointments and patronage jobs, and playing an active role in issues including allocation of cable-television franchises and bridge tolls. Residents would often call a local Republican committeeman to deal with issues like broken streetlights instead of calling a county agency.

“He was convicted in 1981 for his involvement in a scheme in which a Long Island insurance company would split its commissions with Republican politicians, with some $678,000 brought in over a decade. The government’s case relied on the presumption that Margiotta’s influence over county government made him a public official subject to federal extortion laws, even though he was not an elected official. Margiotta insisted that he had not broken any laws, stating that “I’ve been convicted because I’ve been a successful political leader“. After his conviction on federal mail fraud and conspiracy charges as part of the municipal insurance kickback scheme, he was forced to resign from his post and spent 14 months in prison.”

Now, tell me… does this sound currently familiar? But I’m not done! This is from Mr. Margiotta’s obituary in the New York Times:

“For most of the 20th century, as Long Island was transformed into suburban tracts, the Nassau Republican Party was one of the most potent forces in the daily lives of the growing population. For years, Mr. Margiotta cemented that role, choosing protégés who rose to political prominence while also playing a direct role in shaping even mundane decisions like bridge tolls and cable-television franchises.

“While Mr. Margiotta was chairman, some residents would call the local Republican committeeman, rather than a county agency, to get a broken streetlight fixed. Over the years, he rewarded loyalty by recommending party supporters for political patronage jobs on municipal payrolls.

“Certain people try to, you know, make patronage look as if it’s dishonest or improper,” he told The New York Times in a 1982 interview. “It’s a fact of life. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

There. Now I’m done.

On Friday, Arizona and Nevada both filed suit against Bank of America, saying it deceived homeowners trying to avoid foreclosures. The suits allege that Bank of America knowingly misled homeowners in the loan modification process, regularly promising quick help when the process instead dragged out over months if not years, foreclosing on homeowners during the modification process despite promises that homeowners would be safe and making “false” promises to homeowners that their trial modifications would become permanent, among other complaints.A Bank of America executive told the Arizona Republic that he was “disappointed” in the suits and said the bank is already working to improve its processes and programs. “We and other major servicers are currently engaged in multistate discussions to address foreclosure-related issues more comprehensively,” he said.

The Arizona case also says the bank repeatedly violated the terms of a multi-state, $8.68 billion settlement with Countrywide (now a subsidiary of Bank of America) to provide loan modifications for homeowners with troubled loans. A recent investigation by the Nation magazine tore into the settlement, calling it a “fiasco” that failed to help homeowners as promised.

We pulled out some highlights from the two lawsuits. You can read the full Arizona and Nevada suits for yourself.

• Green Infrastructure Examples for Stormwater Management in the Hudson Valley
• Residents Divided About PA’s Agreement With Drillers Over Water Contamination
• Religious Right Attacks Environmentalism As ‘Deadly’ And ‘Destructive’ In New DVD Series
• Obamacare: Helpful law already paying big dividends
• Pentagon Health Plan Won’t Cover Brain-Damage Therapy for Troops
• Journalists at Pentagon daily barred from WikiLeaks
• The Viral Spiral of 2010

Green Infrastructure Examples for Stormwater Management in the Hudson Valley

You can use the links below to explore some examples of stormwater management projects in the Hudson River Valley that use a green infrastructure approach.

The green infrastructure approach to stormwater management includes a wide array of practices to manage, treat, and reuse runoff from rain events while maintaining or restoring natural hydrology through infiltration and evapotranspiration. On a regional scale, practices in green infrastructure include preservation and restoration of natural landscape features, such as forests, floodplains, stream buffers and wetlands, coupled with policies that reduce overall imperviousness in a watershed. On the local scale, green infrastructure consists of site and neighborhood-specific practices, such as bioretention, rain gardens, green roofs, porous pavements and cisterns. Green infrastructure practices generally include any projects defined as better site design or low impact development.

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Residents Divided About PA’s Agreement With Drillers Over Water Contamination

This article was first posted at ProPublica: Articles and Investigations by ProPublica.

by Nicholas Kusnetz

A version of this story will be published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Residents of Dimock, Pa., said they were surprised — and in some cases upset — by the settlement that state environmental regulators reached last week with Cabot Oil & Gas, which the Department of Environmental Protection says contaminated 18 water wells with methane from its gas drilling operations.

The homeowners were told in September that the DEP was going to provide them with fresh water by building a pipeline from a nearby water treatment facility. A state infrastructure fund would have fronted the $11.8 million cost of the project, and the DEP was going to seek reimbursement from Cabot.

But last week the DEP announced that the pipeline project was dead and that Cabot had agreed instead to give the homeowners $4.1 million and provide treatment systems for their well water. The 19 families who draw water from the wells will be offered payments equal to twice the value of their homes, with a minimum payment of $50,000. The settlement also gives the DEP $500,000 to cover the cost of the investigation.

Some of the residents are outraged by the change in plans, even though they say they will accept Cabot’s offer.

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Religious Right Attacks Environmentalism As ‘Deadly’ And ‘Destructive’ In New DVD Series

Various conservative Christian leaders have united with the Cornwall Alliance for the release of a shocking new 12-part DVD series, “Resisting The Green Dragon,” that attempts to debase and discredit the environmental movement by portraying it as “one of the greatest deceptions of our day” that is “seducing your children” and “striving to put America and the world under its destructive control.”

The hyperbolic accusations spewed throughout the video give it the appearance of a ridiculous parody, calling environmentalism “deadly,” a “cult” and a “spiritual deception.” Unfortunately, the comical PSA is anything but a joke.

In the video, David Barton, founder of WallBuilders, attests that environmentalists’ “false assertions are based more on their own morbid pessimistic fears, not on any good science,” while the president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Dr. Richard Land, says, “Environmentalists have a long history of believing and promoting exaggerations and myths” — statements both so steeped in irony that they are hardly worth parrying.

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Obamacare: Helpful law already paying big dividends

By Susan Davis,

There is no more painful or helpless feeling for a parent than fearing for the health of your child. A year ago, Julie and Brooks felt this way. They could not get health care coverage for their two young children. They were denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition; they have diabetes.

I share their story because today, thanks to the new health care law, their children, and many children like them with serious conditions, will have health insurance.

Susan, a constituent from La Jolla, had breast cancer and had to have a mastectomy. Her insurance company refused to authorize follow-up restorative surgery. She was demoralized by the treatment she received from her insurance company, on top of the physical and mental strain from her condition. She came to my office for help. After intervention by my staff and the California Department of Managed Care, her insurance company complied with existing law and what was clearly its responsibility.

I share Susan’s story because many people believe that if they have insurance they don’t need laws to protect their consumer rights. Wrong! Hers is an example of the need to keep a watchful eye on the insurance industry for its compliance with the law.

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Pentagon Health Plan Won’t Cover Brain-Damage Therapy for Troops

This article was first posted at ProPublica: Articles and Investigations by ProPublica.

by T. Christian Miller, ProPublica, and Daniel Zwerdling, NPR

Versions of this story were co-published with NPR and Stars and Stripes. For more coverage, listen to NPR’s All Things Considered.

During the past few decades, scientists have become increasingly persuaded that people who suffer brain injuries benefit from what is called cognitive rehabilitation therapy — a lengthy, painstaking process in which patients relearn basic life tasks such as counting, cooking or remembering directions to get home.

Many neurologists, several major insurance companies and even some medical facilities run by the Pentagon agree that the therapy can help people whose functioning has been diminished by blows to the head.

But despite pressure from Congress and the recommendations of military and civilian experts, the Pentagon’s health plan for troops and many veterans refuses to cover the treatment — a decision that could affect the tens of thousands of service members who have suffered brain damage while fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tricare, an insurance-style program covering nearly 4 million active-duty military and retirees, says the scientific evidence does not justify providing comprehensive cognitive rehabilitation. Tricare officials say an assessment of the available research that they commissioned last year shows that the therapy is not well proven.

But an investigation by NPR and ProPublica found that internal and external reviewers of the Tricare-funded assessment criticized it as fundamentally misguided. Confidential documents obtained by NPR and ProPublica show that reviewers called the Tricare study “deeply flawed,” “unacceptable” and “dismaying.” One top scientist called the assessment a “misuse” of science designed to deny treatment for service members.

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Journalists at Pentagon daily barred from WikiLeaks

(AFP)

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has banned journalists with the popular defense daily Stars and Stripes from consulting leaked diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks, prompting charges of censorship.

“The editorial independence of Stars and Stripes and its readers’ right to news free of censorship are being threatened by an overly broad and misdirected response to the Wikileaks debacle,” the daily wrote.

“Amazingly, the government wants to bar this newspaper’s journalists — along with most federal workers — from reading information already plastered all over the public square.”

In the article, the daily’s ombudsman Mark Prendergast revealed that the Pentagon communications department had advised that “access to any classified information hosted on non-DoD systems from any government-owned system is expressly prohibited” even if it was now in the public arena.

Although Stars and Stripes is officially authorized by the Pentagon it is editorially independent and its journalists are guaranteed the right of freedom of expression contained in the US Constitution.

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There’s a reason they call chain e-mails “viral” — their transmission is swift, extensive and very hard to stop. They tend to contain indignant, outraged messages that are nearly always false and often malicious. We can’t say exactly which virus these nasty messages resemble, but it isn’t one whose effects go away on their own while you drink plenty of fluids.

In 2010 we continued to see new outbreaks of viruses that we first refuted years ago. And in addition, there were a large number of new infections. Despite what you may have been told:

• It’s not true that the White House is planning to tax all credit card transactions.
• Muslims are not being exempted from the new health care law.
• President Obama did not order up a private jet for the family’s pet dog, Bo.
• Speaker Pelosi’s spending for liquor on congressional trips isn’t notably different than that of her predecessor. And Pelosi herself doesn’t even drink alcohol.
• The new health care law does not contain a 3.8 percent “sales tax” on the sale of all personal residences.
• Obama did not cancel the National Day of Prayer nor did he participate in a Muslim prayer event at the Capitol.

Here are this year’s most virulent and pestilential inbox-busters.

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We are quickly running out of weather so if you haven’t yet gotten the exterior of your home set for the winter you’re in for another 5 months of unnecessary wear and tear on your home. Call or write TaconicArts for an estimate on taking care of the painting or staining that should be done before the winter sets in. It’s likely the most expensive thing you’ll ever own so why not take good care of it?

Today is the last day you can register to vote for this election cycle.

Monday is not Columbus Day, that’s Tuesday. There’s a generation out there who doesn’t know this. They also can’t read a clock with ‘hands’ so in the interest of historical accuracy I thought I’d mention it.

The Putnam County Legislature approved the county budget with only two dissenters, Mahopac Legislator Tony Fusco being one of them. Tony explained his vote by saying that he felt the revenue projections for next year are way out of line and too hopeful and that if the county was serious about holding the budget line then they might have taken a tiny pay cut as opposed to the increase they took instead. Moreover, the legislature found nothing to cut in the budget presented to them by outgoing County Executive Bob Bondi.

If anyone knows where the budget is published on the county website you win the Sherlock Holmes award for discovering the mystery of its location. Please share it with us.

A Taxpayer Receipt:

Corn syrup, milk chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, coconut, almond, soy lecithin… any consumer can read these ingredients and their nutritional value on every package of a 75-cent Almond Joy. What is provided to a taxpayer with a $5,400 tax bill? Nothing. For many Americans, the amount they pay in taxes is larger than any purchase they make during the year, but studies show they know almost nothing about where that money goes to. This contributes to ridiculous beliefs, like the view that 20% of government spending goes to foreign aid, for example. An electorate unschooled in basic budget facts is a major obstacle to controlling the nation’s deficit, not to mention addressing a host of economic and social problems. We suggest that everyone who files a tax return receive a “taxpayer receipt.” This receipt would tell them to the penny what their taxes paid for based on the amount they paid in federal income taxes and FICA. Read the rest of this here (PDF)

From the NYSDEC:

The Town of Carmel Department of Recreation and Parks proposes to convert a soccer field into baseball field located at Jimmy McDonough Memorial Park. Project activities (i.e. clearing, grading, lawn seeding, fence installation) will disturb 0.6 acres of the 100 foot regulated adjacent area of NYSDEC Freshwater Wetland LC-23. The Town proposes plantings within the adjacent area to mitigate impacts to the wetland. You can find the rest here.

Back in September some Carmel youth had an altercation: one threw eggs at another and the eggee smashed the guy’s car with a baseball bat in retaliation. In my world that would have been the likely end of it. But the instigator went crying to the police and now this poor kid is facing felony charges. Here we have yet another example of society stepping into a battle between two people that will ultimately cost us all a great deal of money and destroy the life of an otherwise innocent kid. In our rush for the unobtainable, a perfect society, we never look forward to the results.

It’s The Battle of the Numbers: Glenn Beck held Whitestock at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and just last weekend the rest of America held their own at the same place. How many attended either is immaterial since if you were getting your news from the corporate media you wouldn’t have even known there was a rally last weekend. I don’t know what it is: if Jews and liberals run the media one has to wonder why they would give so much attention to the ‘baggers who actually represent only a tiny minority of Americans as opposed to the other 98% of the country. Your guess as to why is as good as mine. Any takers?

A new poll released by the Pew Research folks now show that fewer than half of Americans are against marriage equality, the first time their polling has had this result since 1995. Someone should tell that to Senator Leibell who voted against equality on the floor of the NY Senate this past session. He once assured me his NO vote was over politics and not policy. What a way to run a state, eh? The same poll also shows that 60% of Americans favor repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and would allow for gay men and women to serve in the armed forces un-harassed,  just like in the rest of the civilized world. Of course, the rest of the civilized world has national health care systems but I digress…

• Saturday, October 9
  • Nuclear Lake/Cat Rock Loop Hike
  • Annual Harvest and Educational Farm Tour
  • Fall Art Exhibit
  • Hudson River Reflections
  • Cheryl Wheeler
  • The Joey Val Memorial Coffeehouse Concert
• Sunday, October 10
  • Fall Art Exhibit
  • Tony Trischka
• Into the Future:
  • Wednesday, October 13
    • The 10th Annual Southeast New York Stormwater Conference and Trade Show.
  • Saturday, October 16
    • A Full and Funny Musical Evening with Ray Jessel
  • Sunday, October 16
    • Elizabeth Gabrielle Butler Anger Foundation Walk
  • Tuesday, October 19
    • Green Jobs Forum
  • Friday, October 22
    • Rediscovering Sustainable Development Law
    • Crossroads at Mike’s
  • Monday, October 25
    • Evening Overview: Beyond Pipe and Pond
  • Friday, November 12
    • The Future of Your Woods

Saturday, October 9

Nuclear Lake/Cat Rock Loop Hike

Viewpoint on the AT 8 miles. Starting from Route 55, hike on the Appalachian Trail and Upper Beekman Loop side trail to the viewpoint at Cat Rock, then back on the AT and along Nuclear Lake. Contact leader: Georgette Weir, 845-462-0142 or geweir@optonline.net for meeting time and place. www.MidHudsonADK.org

Annual Harvest and Educational Farm Tour

11AM – 4PM at the Willow Ridge Farm. 174 Canopus Hollow Road, Putnam Valley. Childrens’ Activities, Farm Animals, Farm fresh product, apples, baked good, quiches, cookies, sweet breads and more. A free pumpkin for each family. Admission $8.50 per carload. Hosted by the Putnam Valley Grange.

Fall Art Exhibit

1PM – 5PM At Arts on The Lake, At the old firehouse on Route 52 just south of the Route 311 interchange.

Over 48 artists including Lawrence Alfano, Wendy Alvarez, Pallas Athene, Patricia Bolgosano, Sandhya Reju Boyd, Chris Casaburi, George Davison, Eric Ficinus, Allison Fischer, LisaMarie Frasca-Meinck, Eileen Gunning, Pal Gyomai, Vivian Haberfeld, Eleanor Haggerty, Geneva Clair Hamilton, Bertha Herrmann, Dina Herrmann, Kate O. C. Hoekstra, Judith Hunter, Richard Jelen, Michael Keropian, Marty LaMarche, Kate LaRanger, Ray La Ranger, Deborah Lecce-Fiorilla, Don Longabucco, Judith Lurie-Siegel, Jan Malin, Jojo Maxwell, Gerald Michalak, Sharon Nakazato, Amanda O’Shaughnessy, Kathryn Pelletier, Mel Rosenthal, Roberta Perrymapp, Ekaterina Piskareva, Lisa Pitt, Bob Rogers, Jackie Scelia, Rena Scelia, Mary Schreiber, Erinn Shaw, Triformena Shikarides, Thel Simon, Eileen Sohn, Gregory Solanto, Marcela Szwarc and Roy Volpe will display new works in this bi-annual exhibit.

Hudson River Reflections

5PM – 7PM. Opening Reception. Photographer and Mixed-Medium Artist Russell Cusick’s show at the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries in Beacon runs thru March 2011.  Hudson River inspired art, and PHOTOACRYLIC panoramas from the Bear Mountain Bridge, to Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge. Portion of the proceeds go towards BIRE’s ongoing Hudson River research and monitoring.  199 Main St Beacon. (845) 838-1600 http://bire.org/home/

Cheryl Wheeler

7:30PM At The Walkabout Clearwater Coffeehouse, Memorial United Methodist Church, 250 Bryant Ave, White Plains.  Doors open at 6:30, Audience songfest 6:45 pm., $20 at door / $17.50 on line / children 6-12 $10. Advance Tickets at www.walkaboutclearwater.org.

The Joey Val Memorial Coffeehouse Concert

To Benefit the Run Against Hunger (The ValShow or JoeShow to me) will play on October 9th at the Asbury Methodist Church 17 Old Post Road, Croton-On-Hudson, New York. Please join us for music by:

Chris (Route 22) Cassone,
Steve & Shirl (Great Blue) Kaplan
Penny’s Boat (Tony, Jason & Allison Fraina and Brian Davis) and
Act III (Larry the Professor Eidelman, Gentleman Jim Nowak, et moi)

You know this is a labor of love, because while I was sitting here typing Robinson Cano hit a triple to put the Yanks up 7-3 over the Rays. That in and of itself should be enough to get you there. So I hope you can make it. It’ll be great musicians, a great cause, and the memory of a great guy, Joey Val.

Sunday, October 10

Fall Art Exhibit

1PM – 5PM At Arts on The Lake, At the old firehouse on Route 52 just south of the Route 311 interchange.

Over 48 artists including Lawrence Alfano, Wendy Alvarez, Pallas Athene, Patricia Bolgosano, Sandhya Reju Boyd, Chris Casaburi, George Davison, Eric Ficinus, Allison Fischer, LisaMarie Frasca-Meinck, Eileen Gunning, Pal Gyomai, Vivian Haberfeld, Eleanor Haggerty, Geneva Clair Hamilton, Bertha Herrmann, Dina Herrmann, Kate O. C. Hoekstra, Judith Hunter, Richard Jelen, Michael Keropian, Marty LaMarche, Kate LaRanger, Ray LaRanger, Deborah Lecce-Fiorilla, Don Longabucco, Judith Lurie-Siegel, Jan Malin, Jojo Maxwell, Gerald Michalak, Sharon Nakazato, Amanda O’Shaughnessy, Kathryn Pelletier, Mel Rosenthal, Roberta Perrymapp, Ekaterina Piskareva, Lisa Pitt, Bob Rogers, Jackie Scelia, Rena Scelia, Mary Schreiber, Erinn Shaw, Triformena Shikarides, Thel Simon, Eileen Sohn, Gregory Solanto, Marcela Szwarc and Roy Volpe will display new works in this bi-annual exhibit.

Tony Trischka

7:30PM At the Towne Crier on Route 22 in Pawling. With “Territory” featuring Michael Daves, Tashina Clarridge and Skip Ward ~:~  Tony Trischka is perhaps the most influential banjo player in the roots music world. For more than 35 years, Tony’s stylings have inspired a whole generation of bluegrass and acoustic musicians, including Bela Fleck – one of his early students. With his fearless musical curiosity as! the guiding force, Tony Trischka’s latest critically acclaimed release, Territory, roams widely through the banjo’s creative terrain, exploring a panorama of tunings, banjo sounds and traditions with fellow banjoists Pete Seeger, Mike Seeger, Bill Evans, Bill Keith and Bruce Molsky. Other musicians Trischka has collaborated with include Steve Martin, Peter Rowan, Earl Scruggs and many other luminaries. It’s likely you’ve already enjoyed his playing – possibly on the soundtrack of Driving Miss Daisy, on Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage or any of a number of other places his inventive work has appeared over the years. $20 advance/ $25 door

Into the Future:

Wednesday, October 13

The 10th Annual Southeast New York Stormwater Conference and Trade Show.

This conference will provide valuable information on the changes in the 2010 Phase II Stormwater Permits and the Runoff Reduction emphasis in the 2010 NYS Stormwater Design Manual plus offer a wide array of topics including implementing the runoff reduction method, illicit discharge detection and elimination lessons from the field, stormwater retrofitting to improve water quality, green infrastructure for rooftops, and maintenance of stormwater ponds. PDH and CEU credits have been applied for. The Trade Show will feature products and information from many of the leading stormwater management professionals. The 2010 Conference is sponsored by the Lower Hudson Coalition of Conservation Districts. The cost is $80 per person before 9/24 and $100 after 9/24 and includes Trade Show, lunch and breaks. For more information please contact Jennifer Lusk at (845) 677-8011 ext. 3 or jennifer.lusk@ny.nacdnet.net. Registration information, the agenda and vendor information are available at http://lhccd.org, under Upcoming Events.
Location: Dutchess Manor in Beacon, New York.

Saturday, October 16

A Full and Funny Musical Evening with Ray Jessel

8:00 pm. At the Lake Carmel Cultural Center in the old firehouse on Route 52 in Lake Carmel.

“In the royal court of cabaret . . . Ray Jessel is the jester. The septuagenarian Welsh-Jewish songwriter’s prankishly literate ditties, recall the smart novelty songs of Tom Lehrer, Allan Sherman and other masters of high silliness.” Adam Feldman…TIME OUT New York. “Ray Jessel is living and beaming proof that, even if you no longer break-dance on the corner, you can even be more effective than ever as an Einstein look-alike.” Finkle….VILLAGE VOICE

Jessel was writer/producer for the hit television series Head of the Class. Other credits include The Carol Burnett Show, The Dean Martin Show and The Love Boat. Jessel’s songs have been recorded by Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Durante, Peggy Lee & Sammy Davis Jr., and, with his current partner (in writing and life) Cynthia Thompson, is represented on recent CD’s by Michael Feinstein, John Pizzarelli & Karen Akers.

Tickets:  $10.00 – $15.00

Sunday, October 16

Elizabeth Gabrielle Butler Anger Foundation Walk

8:30 AM at the The Titicus Reservoir Walkathon to raise funds for the foundation named for a woman killed in an incident of domestic violence. To help all young adults understand and implement the concepts of open communication, self-discipline and self-respect in relationships. The fund will help young women & men understand their innate value as people and teach the warning signs of domestic violence, which will ultimately benefit all young adults.

Contact Michele Talerico-Renaud <michelerenee217@gmail.com> for more information.

Elizabeth was a typical 16 year old girl growing up in the suburbs and just beginning to date.  She was sweet, trusting and always saw the best in people.  No one could ever imagine the senseless brutality she would face less than 12 months later.

Elizabeth started dating a person who not only lied about his age but his name as well.  In the beginning he was kind and thoughtful, but immediately became too serious about the relationship, professing his love and calling daily.  The phone calls began to become excessive and his behavior controlling.  Elizabeth started focusing on time with her friends before graduation and going away to college.  She tried to pull away and end the relationship many times but he was relentless, pleading to get back together and then threatening.  He knew her schedule and habits so he would show up places uninvited and then began stalking her.  Elizabeth began to realize there was something terribly wrong but felt guilty about getting him into trouble, especially since he had already made her feel guilty about the break-up.  She had also started seeing a boy her own age and hoped that he would move on and grow tired of pursuing her.

June 5th 2005 was a beautiful Sunday morning and Elizabeth left home at 6:45am to go to work at a local deli, never to return home again.  That morning after parking her car, Elizabeth was confronted by her ex- boyfriend who raped, strangled and stabbed her to death.

Tuesday, October 19

Green Jobs Forum

7PM – at Rhinebeck Town Hall, 80 E. Market St. Forum co-hosted by Assembly Energy Chair Kevin Cahill and Dutchess County Legislator Joel Tyner on the Green Jobs/Green New York legislation signed into law last year– and green-jobs possibilities for PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) for the Hudson Valley!…( http://www.PACEnow.org ).

Fact: Poughkeepsie’s own David Dell, Chair of Sustainable Hudson Valley, has crunched the numbers and found literally one billion dollars in savings on electric bills possible over the next decade for Dutchess County homeowners and businesses alone if we got a PACE-like program up and running and got energy-efficiency retrofits into hands of all who need them– not to mention tons of jobs as well. Contact Joel Tyner at (845) 444-0599/876-2488 for more information.

Friday, October 22

Rediscovering Sustainable Development Law

8:30AM – 1:30PM – At the Pace Law School, White Plains, New York. This half day conference explores the emergence of sustainable development practice in law firms, government programs, and in law schools, particularly Pace University School of Law, which offers an advanced degree in land use and sustainable development law. This area of law draws on environmental, land use, real estate, energy, climate change, insurance, and other areas of legal engagement.  In government programs, it integrates programs for transportation facilities, environmental protection, energy production, workforce housing, and the sustainable development of buildings, neighborhoods, and regions. The 40 year old history of sustainable development law will serve as the backdrop for presentations on its modern and practical applications.

Congresswoman Nita Lowey has been invited to give remarks on federal initiatives and regional needs. She will be joined by professors from other law schoools and Pace and by practitioners who will dicuss this emerging field and explore its practical applications

Lunch will be provided with an address by Andrew C. Revkin, Senior Fellow for Environmental Understanding at the Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies.

Registration is complimentary. Details to follow.

Crossroads at Mike’s

8 PM at the Roy Arias Theater, 300 W43rd, 4th floor. Broadway Briefs presents. One Bartender, One Bar…if those walls could talk….this is what they would say…  On Night. One Bar. Nine Plays. A concept play written in parts by Fidel Fonteboa, Gabby Fox, Tony Howarth, Carol Mark and Pat O’Connor. Starring: Jon Barb, Joseph Colantino, John Crandell, Jessica Danahy, Fidel Fonteboa, Jeremy Frutkin, Linda Gervargiz, Adam Glatzl, Mark Gorham*, Karen Hanley, Shelley Lerea, Laurel Lettieri, Marisa Lowe, Zulie Lozada, Matt McKenna, Richard Manichello, Carol Mark, Barbara H. Marks, Sophia Shkreli, Leslie Smithey, Howard Weintraub, Jason Xay, Maria Zadrima, Gus Zucco… and one stage manager (yours truly!). Tickets $16 in advance $18 at the door. Also runs Saturday at 8PM and Sunday at 4PM. Room for only 75 attendees each performance so head over to Smarttix.com and reserve your place now… before it’s too late. Would you like that shaken or stirred?

Monday, October 25

Evening Overview: Beyond Pipe and Pond

A Research-based Approach to Stormwater Management
5:00 PM – 9:00 PM (Arrive between 5:00 and 6:00 to participate in a tour; arrive by 6:45 for the program)

Speakers:  Patrick Kozakiewicz, Architect and Garrett Jobson, Landscape Architect, NY State Parks; Simon Gruber, Hudson Valley Regional Council; Jamie Houle, CPSWQ, University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center.

Participants will tour a local example of innovative practices including pervious pavement, stream restoration, and energy conservation; learn about the Hudson Valley Green Infrastructure Stormwater Planning Project; learn from the experts at the UNH Stormwater Center how innovative stormwater systems work and learn about applications of green stormwater practices in New Hampshire.  Hosted by the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the NYSDEC Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve in cooperation with the Hudson River Estuary Program.

Cost: $7 Dinner; 2 PDHs for Professional Engineers available ($20). Please contact Emilie Hauser (logistics), 845-889-4745 x 112 or Barbara Kendall (program) 845-471-7383 x 104 or RSVP to this link: http://www.hrnerr.org/public/training/stormwater/workshop.htm. Registration in advance in requested.

Location:  NYS OPRHP Taconic Region Headquarters, 9 Old Post Road, Staatsburg, NY 12580

Friday, November 12

The Future of Your Woods

A workshop for landowners in the Eastern Hudson Highlands. At the Clearpool Education Ctr, Carmel, NY. This workshop will provide landowners with info and tools to get the most out of their woodlands, and learn how to take care of it for future generations. For more information, contact Kristi Sullivan at kls20@cornell.edu or Laura Heady at lheady@gw.dec.state.ny.us

We’re back to our regular format following Monday’s special report which went far and wide across the blogsphere and had 104 individual views making it the most viewed article this week so far. For some reason, so far the only place I’ve read about the TEA Party rally on Saturday was right here in News That Matters but I’m sure the FOX Courier will cover it in their edition this week.

Tea Bagger’s, egged on by Sarah Palin, are increasingly pressuring the “Liberal” media. WHAT LIBERAL MEDIA IS SHE REFERRING TO? News That Matters? Because, folks, I’m it. She says there’s a ‘sickness and darkness‘ about me but we’ve never even met and I know she’s not a subscriber.

Based on what’s out there and where we get our information the only liberal media exists right here on your computer screen and you’re looking at it now.

While I love the attention it’s getting a bit old. I mean, everywhere I go paparazzi follow me around like they would the last remaining woolly mammoth waiting for it to die to say, “I was there!” when the era finally passes into extinction. And when I’m dead and the lights have been turned off here in the news room and these old fingers have ceased their pounding on the keyboard, what will she do then?

Therefore I propose that those who decry the liberal media make monthly donations to keep News That Matters alive for without me they have nothing. Just click on the donate link above.

Philipstown’s Margaret Yonco-Haines sent me note saying that her town has a new informational website called Philipstown.info She writes,

“Check it out daily – Liz Schevtchuk Armstrong is the chief news reporter, Michael Mell is Editor and School reporter, Joe Dizney covers entertainment and other doings around town, Alison Rooney covers People (that’s us), and Andrew Veltz produces the videos.  Mike Turton is Editor at Large and Gordon Stewart – who had the vision and energy to take an idea and make it a reality – is the Publisher. This paper is the real deal – there are many more plans to expand and improve coverage, and well as take advantage of the flexibility and creativity the web offers. And it is put together by our amazingly talented neighbors here in Philipstown!”

Maybe that’s one more target for Sarah?

The Putnam County Stormwater committee has decided that efforts mandated by the EPA to clean up our water pollution act should be paid for by someone else because, as they say, NYC drinks *our* water.

I hate to be the bearer of good news but every dime that’s spent on cleaning up stormwater issues brings each of us closer to a future of clean drinking water. Our esteemed legislators don’t really get the whole cycle thing… you know, it rains, water flows down creeks and streams, infiltrates our aquifers from which our wells pull the water we drink. They really should worry less about NYC (the largest taxpayer in the county who provides thousands of acres of recreational open space – free, by the way) and more about their constituents’ futures.

If you can get down to Yorktown by 11AM this morning you can catch Greg Ball at a news conference where he decries fellow Republican Mary Beth Murphy’s “liberal tax and spend” record. Greg also has a new commercial out and though I tried to subscribe to Matt Neuringer’s you-tube channel to show it to you but I’ve been blocked from doing so.

If Yorktown is too far, you can get to the Putnam County courthouse by 1PM this afternoon to catch Mary Ellen Odell’s own press conference where she ‘will announce that her opponent Senator Vincent Leibell failed in his attempt to subvert the democratic process and steal the election by knocking her off the Republican Primary Ballot.’ She might as well host a press conference announcing that the sky is blue.

Wikileaks released tens of thousands of documents related to the war in Afghanistan. While the talking-heads on the FOX network and their allied media sites talked about a breach in national security, the White House took a more prosaic approach to the whole thing: Yeah, we’re killing a lot of innocent people and yeah, the war ain’t workin’ so let’s spend more money on it. Hey, 30 billion here, 40 billion there, it’s just money. And watch who votes for continued funding…. those tax-and-spend Republicans! Sadly, Congressman John Hall has indicated that he will vote for additional war funding moving him even further to the Right and making it increasingly difficult for his former followers to pull the lever for him come November.

A 52 year-old mother in Missouri cleaned her bathroom with her son’s toothbrush. He filed charges. A 17 year-old girl in New Hampshire put lysol in her mothe’rs Kool-Aid. She filed charges. Ya gotta love it.

And now, The News:

1. Youth-run urban farm opens in Newburgh
2. Local officials ‘miffed’ Putnam stormwater fixes won’t come from NYC funds
3. Palisades Center seeks 65.6% cut in assessment
4. Rowan, Rutgers study says N.J. is running out of open space, renews urban sprawl debate
5. Exploring Algae as Fuel
6. Solartech begins production

Youth-run urban farm opens in Newburgh

Midhudsonnews.com
NEWBURGH – It’s called la Vida Garden, a youth-run urban farm at 59 Chambers Street in Newburgh.

The once garbage strewn lot has been transformed into an organic farm and cultural center by inner city youth. It now is filled with seven organically grown beds of tomatoes, eggplants, arugula, basil, mescaline mix, hot and sweet peppers, peaches and cherries, raspberries, grapes, flowers and herbs.

La Vida Garden will also serve as a cultural venue with open mic nights and a Sunday movie night as well as workshops.

Read More

Local officials ‘miffed’ Putnam stormwater fixes won’t come from NYC funds

NY Journal News
CARMEL — Putnam County legislators recently refused to set aside some of the county’s watershed money to pay for expensive stormwater controls mandated by the state and federal governments, confusing local officials working on those measures.

Legislators agreed to guarantee $8.2 million to fund the stormwater program for five years — just not with money the county received from New York City for water-quality improvements.

“That kind of miffed most of us,” Patterson Supervisor Michael Griffin said Tuesday. “Why would you use money raised by taxes when you have money that’s been earmarked for such a use?”

Griffin serves on Putnam’s stormwater committee with supervisors from Putnam Valley, Kent, Southeast and Carmel; county representatives; and consultants. The committee must tell the state by Friday how it will reduce pollution from stormwater and how it plans to pay for the costly undertaking, which is the finalization of a years-long effort to keep contaminants out of lakes, rivers and New York City’s reservoirs.

Read More

Palisades Center seeks 65.6% cut in assessment

NY Journal News
NEW CITY — Clarkstown’s largest property taxpayer, the Palisades Center mall, has filed a tax certiorari proceeding seeking a nearly two-thirds reduction in assessment for 2009-10, the town said.

The mall’s current assessment is $253 million. If the lower assessment — $87 million — is granted, it could have a significant impact on the budgets of the town and the school district.

The mall pays $23,477,500 in property taxes annually, of which $15,165,00 goes to Clarkstown schools, $1,332,500 to the county, $5,635,000 to the town and $1,345,000 for special fire, ambulance and sewer districts.

To fight the tax grievance, the town and the school district have jointly hired the New York City firm Kaye Scholer LLP to deal with the “massive undertaking,” said Amy Mele, Clarkstown town attorney. The town and the school district will share the legal costs.

In documents filed by the Palisades Center, the mall says it has been assessed at a higher rate than other commercial properties in the area. It has also claimed it has had to renegotiate leases with renters in the poor economic climate, Mele said.

It’s an argument the town isn’t buying.

Read More

Rowan, Rutgers study says N.J. is running out of open space, renews urban sprawl debate

NJ.com
For the first time, New Jersey’s landscape is covered more by housing and shopping malls rather than forests, the real consequence of the “two most sprawling decades” ever, a report being released today concludes.

The study, a collaboration between Rowan and Rutgers universities, analyzed land use data between 1986 and 2007 and estimates the state could run out of open space around 2050 if the pace of development that took place in the sprawl years continued.

“There’s less than a million acres left,” said John Hasse, a professor at Rowan University and a co-author of the report. “We have our last 20 percent.

Read More

Exploring Algae as Fuel

NYTimes.com
SAN DIEGO — In a laboratory where almost all the test tubes look green, the tools of modern biotechnology are being applied to lowly pond scum.

Foreign genes are being spliced into algae and native genes are being tweaked.

Different strains of algae are pitted against one another in survival-of-the-fittest contests in an effort to accelerate the evolution of fast-growing, hardy strains.

The goal is nothing less than to create superalgae, highly efficient at converting sunlight and carbon dioxide into lipids and oils that can be sent to a refinery and made into diesel or jet fuel.

“We’ve probably engineered over 4,000 strains,” said Mike Mendez, a co-founder and vice president for technology at Sapphire Energy, the owner of the laboratory. “My whole goal here at Sapphire is to domesticate algae, to make it a crop.”

Dozens of companies, as well as many academic laboratories, are pursuing the same goal — to produce algae as a source of, literally, green energy. And many of them are using genetic engineering or other biological techniques, like chemically induced mutations, to improve how algae functions.

“There are probably well over 100 academic efforts to use genetic engineering to optimize biofuel production from algae,” said Matthew C. Posewitz, an assistant professor of chemistry at the Colorado School of Mines, who has written a review of the field. “There’s just intense interest globally.”

Read More

Solartech begins production

Midhidsonnews.com
KINGSTON – The sky was clear and blue Monday, and plenty of sun found its way through the region’s green, leafy overhang.

But inside Solartech Renewables, on the Tech City campus in Kingston, workers were building the receptacles, photovoltaic panels, to catch those rays before they hit the ground.

Solartech started manufacturing the panels in late June and expects to produce 55,000- a-year with a single assembly line. And another line is in the works.

“We’re targeting that for late this year,” said Todd Roberts, Solartech’s chairman and CEO, of the second line,” but it’s likely that will happen early next year. That will take us up to 110,000 panels a year.”

Read More

David Goldman for The New York Times

“Anything that will fit down a catch basin or will fit down a manhole, I’ve seen,” said Chris Laudando, a city worker.

Strange things can be found on New York City’s streets. Even stranger things turn up below, in the sewer system.

David Goldman for The New York Times

The city’s new sewage trucks, each equipped with a 30-foot-hose, can vacuum a total of up to three tons of debris and sediment daily. They will clean the city’s largest sewer lines.

Over the decades, sewer workers have found jewelry, murder weapons, glass eyes and bulkier items of mysterious origin, including tires, mattresses and, once, a paddle boat from Van Cortlandt Lake in the Bronx.

“I’ve seen parts of cars,” said Chris Laudando, a superintendent for the city’s Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the system. “I’ve seen sections of boats. Anything that will fit down a catch basin or will fit down a manhole, I’ve seen. I’ve seen rodents, raccoons. All sorts of furry creatures. No alligators.”

via Unclogging Sewer Lines – Weird Debris, but No Alligators – NYTimes.com.